Pacific Rim (film)

In 2013, Guillermo del Toro directed *Pacific Rim*, an American military science fiction and monster movie. The story was created by Travis Beacham, who also wrote the screenplay alongside del Toro. This film launched the *Pacific Rim* franchise. The cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, and Ron Perlman. The story takes place in a future where Earth battles the Kaiju—enormous sea monsters that come through an interdimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. To fight them, humanity builds the Jaegers, giant humanoid mechas piloted by two people whose minds are linked through a connection called the Drift.

Filming started on November 14, 2011, in Toronto and wrapped up in April 2012. Legendary Pictures produced the film, and Warner Bros. Pictures distributed it. It came out on July 12, 2013, in formats including 3D, RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX. Critics generally gave positive reviews, praising the acting, direction, story, action, visual effects, music, and nostalgic feel. Although it didn't perform as well in the United States, it succeeded in other countries, earning $411 million worldwide. China was its biggest market, bringing in $136 million, making it del Toro's most commercially successful film. It is seen as a tribute to kaiju, mecha, and anime media. A sequel, *Pacific Rim Uprising*, came out on March 23, 2018, distributed by Universal Pictures.

In 2013, extraterrestrial Kaiju emerge from a portal called the Breach at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and attack coastal cities around the Pacific Rim. Humanity builds Jaegers, each piloted by two or more people who share the mental strain through the Drift. By 2020, brothers Yancy and Raleigh Becket pilot the Jaeger Gipsy Danger to defend Anchorage. A Kaiju badly damages Gipsy and kills Yancy. Raleigh kills the Kaiju but, traumatized and stressed from piloting alone, quits the program.

Five years later, world leaders stop funding the Jaeger program and build coastal defense walls instead, as Kaiju attacks increase and Jaegers are lost. The walls fail when a Kaiju breaks through in Sydney, though Jaeger Striker Eureka, piloted by father-son duo Herc and Chuck Hansen, stops it. The remaining Jaegers move to the Shatterdome in Hong Kong under Marshal Stacker Pentecost.